The present invention relates to a method for operating a motor vehicle.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
It is known to equip modern motor vehicles with control devices for automatically and driver-independently, switch off at least one drive unit of the motor vehicle at standstill in order to save fuel. Usually, corresponding control devices cause a switching off of the drive unit, in particular of an internal combustion engine of the motor vehicle, when the motor vehicle comes to a standstill. In particular, it is possible that the control device causes the switching off of the drive unit in dependence on at least one item of road information which relates to the actual position of the motor vehicle on a road, and in dependence on the presence of at least one further boundary condition. Thus, the control device queries a plurality of boundary conditions which are relevant for regulation and for turning off the drive unit of the motor vehicle, such as for example the rotational speed of the engine, the rotational speed of the wheels etc., wherein the actual position of the motor vehicle on a road on which the motor vehicle drives can also be taken into account in the form of a position related item of road information.
Generally, the drive unit is reactivated or switched on via an input by the driver which indicates the he is ready to depart. Corresponding control devices are also referred to as so called start-stop automatic, or can be part of a corresponding start-stop automatic.
Switching the drive unit off via a corresponding control device is often disruptive, in particular for the driver when a particularly abrupt and speedy starting such as for example when driving into a roundabout from standstill or driving onto a speedway from standstill is required. This may even cause a safety risk for occupants of the motor vehicle and other road users because the control device allows a desired restarting of the motor vehicle from standstill with switched off drive unit only with a time delay, which is misjudged by the driver.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide a method for operating a motor vehicle which method is in particular improved with regard to regulating the driver independent switching off of the drive unit of the motor vehicle.